About 42% of Senegal's population is rural. In rural areas, population density varies from about 77 per square kilometer (200/mile²) in the west-central region to 2 per square kilometer (5/mile²) in the arid eastern section. The average population density for the country is 68 people per square kilometer (180 people/sq mi).[1] French is the official language but is used regularly only by the literate minority. Almost all Senegalese speak an indigenous language, of which Wolof has the largest usage. Many Senegalese live in Europe, particularly in France, Italy and Spain.
Population
Demographics of Senegal, From UN estimates; Number of inhabitants in millions.
According to the 2018 revision of the World Population Review[1] the total population was 16,302,789 in May 2018, compared to only 2,416,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2017 was 41.5%, between 15 and 54 years of age was 31.1%, while 55 years or older was 6.9%.[2]
Total population
Population aged 0–14 (%)
Population aged 15–64 (%)
Population aged 65+ (%)
1950
2,416,000
41.6
55.0
3.4
1955
2,684,000
41.5
55.6
2.9
1960
3,048,000
41.9
55.5
2.6
1965
3,505,000
43.0
54.6
2.4
1970
4,096,000
44.3
53.5
2.3
1975
4,786,000
45.3
52.5
2.2
1980
5,414,000
47.2
50.5
2.2
1985
6,232,000
47.7
50.0
2.3
1990
7,242,000
47.2
50.4
2.4
1995
8,369,000
46.2
51.3
2.5
2000
9,506,000
45.4
52.1
2.5
2005
10,872,000
44.4
53.1
2.5
2010
12,434,000
43.7
53.9
2.4
2017
14,668,522
41.5
55.5
2.9
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (Estimates 1.VII.2020) (Data refer to national projections.):[3]
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
%
Total
8 456 486
8 504 040
16 960 525
100
0–4
1 373 744
1 294 257
2 668 002
15.73
5–9
1 219 736
1 146 769
2 366 505
13.95
10–14
1 066 780
1 005 257
2 072 037
12.22
15–19
919 100
893 599
1 812 700
10.69
20–24
762 949
805 877
1 568 826
9.25
25–29
640 669
694 125
1 334 794
7.87
30–34
527 920
562 852
1 090 772
6.43
35–39
433 152
466 088
899 240
5.30
40–44
335 430
374 282
709 711
4.18
45–49
278 289
309 644
587 933
3.47
50–54
244 474
259 784
504 259
2.97
55–59
200 080
208 825
408 905
3.41
60–64
149 832
154 155
303 986
1.79
65–69
112 949
116 334
229 284
1.35
70–74
80 355
84 366
164 721
0.97
75-79
52 036
58 255
110 292
0.65
80+
58 988
69 570
128 558
0.76
Age group
Male
Female
Total
Percent
0–14
3 660 260
3 446 283
7 106 543
41.90
15–64
4 491 898
4 729 232
9 221 130
54.37
65+
304 328
328 525
632 853
3.73
Vital statistics
Registration of vital events in Senegal is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[4]
urban population: 49.1% of total population (2022)
rate of urbanization: 3.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 47.2% of total population (2018)
rate of urbanization: 3.73% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 69.96 years. Country comparison to the world: 171st
male: 68.23 years
female: 71.77 years (2022 est.)
total population: 62.5 years
male: 60.4 years
female: 64.7 years (2018 est.)
Total population: 62.1 years (2017 est.), 59.78 years (2011 est.), 59.25 years (2006 est.)
Male: 60 years (2017 est.), 57.85 years (2011 est.), 57.7 years (2006 est.)
Female: 64.3 years (2017 est.), 61.77 years (2011 est.), 60.85 years (2006 est.)
Urbanization
urban population: 47.2% of total population (2018)
rate of urbanization: 3.73% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Senegal is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
Maternal mortality ratio
315 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
Drinking water source
improved
total: 78.5% of population
urban: 92.9% of population
rural: 67.3% of population
unimproved
total: 21.5% of population
urban: 7.1% of population
rural: 32.7% of population (2015 est.)
Education expenditures
5.3% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 51st
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2017 est.)
total population: 51.9%
male: 64.8%
female: 39.8% (2017 est.)
Senegal was historically a destination country for neighboring economic migrants, but in recent decades West African migrants more often use Senegal as a transit point to North Africa, or as a stop before continuing illegally onward to Europe.[9] The country also has been host to several thousand black Mauritanian refugees since they were expelled from Mauritania during the 1989 border conflict with Senegal. The country's economic crisis in the 1970s stimulated emigration; departures accelerated from the 1990s. Destinations shifted from neighboring countries to Libya and Mauritania, because of their booming oil industries, and to France, Italy and Spain.[9]
